


For the Love of the Stars

by alwaysforevan



Category: Block B
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sappy Ending, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 03:26:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwaysforevan/pseuds/alwaysforevan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yukwon likes to count the stars. They don't give him answers but, then again, neither does Minhyuk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \+ I'm not sure, exactly, where this came from, but I know it was caused by Block B's 'Very Good' MV.  
> \+ Also, this includes top!vampire!Yukwon. I don't know if this is a problem, but I'm letting you know anyway.

i.

 

minhyuk is quiet. usually.

 

normally, he sets himself up in a corner, away from others. he reads in the library, or he goes out to the back garden, or he stays in his room.

 

he supposes this vampire-human bond he has serves at least one purpose. lots of funding goes into keeping vampires away from the general human populace, and lots of money means minhyuk can avoid people easily, can keep to himself more, which he likes. not that he has a problem with people. he just values peace and silence more than most.

 

yukwon likes that about him.

 

well, yukwon _says_ he likes it, but minhyuk isn't good at reading faces, so he's never quite sure if people mean what they say.

 

and yukwon practically grew up with him, after all.

 

all teenage vampires are paired up with masters between ages seven and ten; it's the law. so, minhyuk thinks, it's perfectly natural for yukwon to like him. yukwon's taken his blood, shared a bed with him, lived with him...

 

 _not_ liking him would be the issue.

 

but sometimes minhyuk sees yukwon get this strange look in his eyes, and minhyuk starts to think that maybe it would be safer if yukwon hated him.

 

and that's when minhyuk feels like getting loud.

 

ii.

 

there are days when minhyuk thinks that the whole world is falling to pieces. having vampires in society makes things even more violent than they should be, and he hears things about families being drained of their blood and massacres taking place on the streets...

 

and it's days like these that minhyuk feels wary about the vampire that's constantly beside him, grinning from ear to ear like that character from that story he'd read once.

 

cheshire?

 

yes, cheshire.

 

and sometimes minhyuk feels like alice.

 

iii.

 

a long time ago, he admitted to himself that he loved yukwon.

 

minhyuk thinks about those days, those days when he first realized it, and he thinks that he must've been crazy. absolutely insane. to fall in love with a vampire? it's the kind of thing you read about in bad romance novels, or the kind of thing you see in strange movies.

 

that's not to say that he _isn't_ still in love with yukwon, because he very much _is_ , but minhyuk sort of hates himself for _realizing_ it. it wasn't real until he figured it out. love was a vague concept until he gave it a name, until he gave it a face, until it came alive and breathed.

 

love, minhyuk knows, is scary.

 

love has fangs.

 

iv.

 

yukwon pulls minhyuk into their bed one night. there's cool air blowing against the window and rain tapping lightly on the glass and, as soon as the vampire's got minhyuk, his hands start unbuttoning minhyuk's shirt. he does it slowly, calmly, like minhyuk could just push away at any moment. but minhyuk won't.

 

minhyuk sees what yukwon wants reflected in his eyes and he lets yukwon have it. he lets yukwon have _him_. that's what he is here for anyway. masters keeps vampires in check, give them what they need so they don't go out and kill people. it doesn't make a whole lot of difference one way or the other; blood or sex or love or all three, he is here for yukwon.

 

yukwon needs him, so...he's here. simple.

 

and when minhyuk's shirt is gone, his pants quickly follow, and yukwon hasn't looked into minhyuk's eyes yet. minhyuk suspects that says a lot about what this means to yukwon. he tries not to let the fact hurt him too much.

 

but his body is cold, growing colder. yukwon doesn't have warm skin; he ingests a lot of blood, but seems to prefer to keep the house at a temperature that's just above freezing, and the night air isn't doing much to help. so, minhyuk is cold, and part of him wants to get warmer. very warm, very _quickly_.

 

still, yukwon moves slow, and he carefully adjusts minhyuk into a position he deems will be comfortable for them both. he's covering minhyuk so that the only thing minhyuk can see is the deadly vampire on top of him.

 

then yukwon's fangs are out.

 

minhyuk shivers. he really, _really_ likes those fangs.

 

yukwon's fangs are razor-sharp. pretty, like the rest of him, and dangerous, and threatening. they glint, reflecting the light of of dim room and some moonlight, while yukwon's eyes follow the trail his fingertips leave. yukwon's eyes are bright, feasting on pale skin, and it's suddenly clear to minhyuk that this is probably going to hurt more than he expected it to.

 

not physically.

 

okay, maybe physically.

 

it hurts him when yukwon dips below his chin and _grins_ , fangs scraping across his collarbone. it hurts him when yukwon's fingers dig into his thighs and hips and sides.

 

but it hurts _more_ that yukwon won't look at him. it hurts to feel this distance with an act so intimate. it makes minhyuk think of himself as some kind of object of release or pleasure and, because it's yukwon, it hurts, and it hurts in places minhyuk didn't even know could hurt.

 

following that night, minhyuk secludes himself a little more. he doesn't go out as much, he stays in his room a lot...

 

and it isn't angst or depression, it's not.

 

minhyuk knows, the pain he felt and keeps feeling, it's love. and he thinks he'll probably keep feeling it until he dies.

 

v.

 

early on, minhyuk noticed how often yukwon spent time outside, looking up at the stars. minhyuk would pull on a sweater and join him, watch him.

 

most of the time, minhyuk stayed there just to make sure yukwon wasn't doing anything creepy or bad, and he always fell asleep where he sat. he'd always wake up in bed, with yukwon's fangs piercing the skin of his wrist for breakfast.

 

minhyuk would scold him, tear his arm way from the vampire with a glare. yukwon would lick his lips and say he was hungry, that it couldn't be helped.

 

even now, yukwon still goes out at night and watches the stars, and minhyuk follows and falls asleep, and he wakes up with yukwon by his side.

 

but yukwon's older now, so he's matured a little. he _asks_ for breakfast now, instead of taking it.

 

minhyuk thinks this is the meaning of winning small battles.

 

vi.

 

masters.

 

minhyuk thinks that the title is something of a misnomer because, for one thing, he's never understood how you would master a vampire. they can't be trained, or fought, or punished, because trying to do any of the three might get you killed.

 

vampires _use_ their masters, as sources of food or pleasure, and then they retreat back into their vampiric cove to enjoy their isolated and miserable life. masters are a sort of buffer, to keep vampires away from the _normal_ humans. sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but that's their job.

 

but minhyuk knows that masters have no control over the vampires they're paired with; the vampires have control over _them_.

 

so, minhyuk concludes, whoever invented the damn title must've made a major error in spelling.

 

he must've meant _mastered_.

 

vii.

 

one day, yukwon asks minhyuk if minhyuk loves him.

 

immediately, minhyuk decides he could answer this question one of two ways: he could lie and say he doesn't, or he could tell the truth and say he does.

 

but he doesn't like either way, because lying feels wrong and the idea of looking into yukwon's eyes and admitting his love makes minhyuk nervous as all hell, so he invents a new way.

 

he creates a middle ground.

 

_i give you my blood, don't i?_

 

yukwon's smile is blinding, but he isn't fooled.

 

_that's not an answer, minhyuk._

 

minhyuk raises a brow at the vampire and wills himself to breathe. just breathe.

 

_well, that's the answer i'm giving you. take it or leave it._

 

and, for a moment, minhyuk sees yukwon's eyes flash dangerously. they get a little darker, a little sharper like his fangs, and minhyuk almost thinks he's made a mistake.

 

but yukwon's smile barely diminishes.

 

_i always take what you give me, minhyuk. nothing more, nothing less._

 

minhyuk doesn't like to read into things, ever, because that means that you make assumptions and your expectations grow and you get disappointed. minhyuk doesn't want to feel disappointed. but somehow, with yukwon, and with yukwon's stupidly amazing smile, minhyuk doubts he will be.

 

viii.

 

yukwon corners minhyuk again, not long after.

 

_you never really answered me, you know._

 

minhyuk thought he was in the clear and, looking back on it, that was an idiotic thought, but that still doesn't mean he's inclined to give the persistent vampire a proper response.

 

_i did answer you. it just wasn't the answer you wanted, or wasn't something you wanted to hear. but it was my answer._

 

he's being a little bratty. he knows that.

 

minhyuk likes to believe that it's the long-term exposure to blood-sucking creatures that makes him so cynical sometimes but, honestly, it's probably just his nature.

 

all he really knows is that yukwon's giving him a look that he never wanted to receive. it reminds him of the look yukwon used to give him when they first met and yukwon couldn't resist his thirst for blood. it's unnerving.

 

yukwon tilts his head to the side.

 

_he loves me, he loves me not._

 

minhyuk's eyebrows scrunch up, meeting in the middle, because he's confused. well, that, and also a little anxious. with yukwon prying like this, it's only a matter of time before he discovers how much minhyuk loves him, and minhyuk does not want to think about what'll happen when that discovery is made.

 

ix.

 

the first time they ate together, minhyuk decided he disliked the vampire's presence. yukwon sat right next to him and stared at minhyuk until minhyuk couldn't even eat. he didn't understand why yukwon was there. he had already fed yukwon. yukwon should've been off doing god-knows-what, not joining minhyuk for breakfast.

 

but when minhyuk asked yukwon why he was there, yukwon shrugged and said he thought it was fair. minhyuk fed him, so he should feed minhyuk.

 

minhyuk disagreed vehemently. yukwon ignored minhyuk's protests and fed him anyway, one bite of deliciously made food at a time.

 

now, minhyuk stares at yukwon, as the vampire gracefully sits beside him and clicks the chopsticks in his hand. minhyuk wonders, absently, how their last meal together will be like. he wonders how long yukwon will live after he's gone, what new master will be assigned to him.

 

he frowns at the thought of yukwon feeding another master.

 

it's the first time minhyuk's ever wished he could live forever.

 

living forever means watching yukwon die, but it also means he'll be with yukwon for the entirety of yukwon's life. they've been together so many years now, minhyuk can't imagine not being there to cry at yukwon's deathbed.

 

x.

 

at some point, minhyuk remembers yukwon asking him where he came from.

 

at first, minhyuk didn't want to answer, because it was painful to think about. the only people who got paired off with vampires were the unwanted children; those without parents or familial ties, those who had no one to care for them or for their safety.

 

but after yukwon spends almost three complete hours explaining to minhyuk that his parents were human, that he came from a good family, that it was unfortunate that he got tainted with vampire blood, that his parents were disgusted when they first saw his fangs, that some people took him away from home one day and brought him to one of those places where they kept the turned, that he was actually lucky to be alive...

 

well, after all that, minhyuk thinks that revealing a little about himself won't hurt.

 

and it doesn't.

 

yukwon listens to him and stays silent the whole time. minhyuk wraps the story up pretty quickly, but yukwon still keeps quiet. he doesn't offer any words of pity or sympathy or optimism.

 

minhyuk likes that. he's thankful for it, because he doesn't need the pity or sympathy or optimism. he needs the light that yukwon's silence eminates. he soaks it up like he'd soak up the rays of the sun.


	2. Chapter 2

xi.

 

yukwon goes out a little earlier than usual one night. minhyuk follows yukwon, tugging his sweater tighter around him, and sits on a bench near the vampire who's sitting on the ground. he sees yukwon look up at the stars, and minhyuk gets a terrible feeling in his chest.

 

it's the married weight of love and mortality settling in again, the ache minhyuk seems to be getting more and more often when he's around yukwon.

 

it's pretty early. he won't be falling into blissful sleep any time soon, unfortunately.

 

but then, minhyuk thinks, this would be a good time to ask yukwon why he watches the stars so much. so he does. he asks. it's a whisper, but minhyuk knows yukwon hears him because yukwon is like a cat; he twitches his head a little when he hears something.

 

and minhyuk waits for the answer, but yukwon stays silent. yukwon isn't usually quiet, not this quiet, and minhyuk is about to tell him to forget it but then yukwon speaks.

 

_he loves me, he loves me not._

 

minhyuk stiffens.

 

he watches yukwon lay down on the grass with his hands behind his head, sees the movement of yukwon's lips.

 

_he loves me, he loves me not._

 

minhyuk breathes, and steels himself, because he's getting scared over nothing. yukwon isn't a mind-reader. yukwon has no idea what he feels. yukwon can't know.

 

_yukwon, what are you talking about?_

 

yukwon glances up at minhyuk and then back at the stars.

 

_he loves me, he loves me not._

 

minhyuk frowns.

 

_isn't that the kind of thing you should say while pulling petals off a flower?_

 

yukwon smiles, and the smile is even more amazing with the moon shining over it, making it more beautiful than minhyuk thinks it should be. and yukwon looks around them, at the scattered flowers, and takes one from the ground.

 

a white lily with an even number of petals.

 

_if i pull the petals off a flower, i'll get an answer. but i haven't gotten one yet, so i try to pick the stars instead, because that's endless._

 

minhyuk's breath catches. yukwon starts twirling the flower in his hand.

 

_i don't think i'll ever get an answer._

 

and the way yukwon says that makes minhyuk want to cry, because all minhyuk wants is to live in peace with yukwon for the rest of yukwon's life. he doesn't want this, this complicated feeling, this pain spreading in his chest. he just wants to live forever.

 

_what do you think, minhyuk?_

 

minhyuk meets yukwon's gaze. he wants to say it. he does. the words are on the tip of his tongue, they're ready to take off, but...he can't.

 

_i think you should keep looking at the stars._

 

he's weak, he knows this. he can't face yukwon and say the word love. it doesn't come naturally to him. he can't do it. he wants to, before either of them die, before something happens, before he regrets it, but he can't.

 

yukwon doesn't seem too discouraged.

 

_you're right. this flower won't give me the answer i want, anyway._

 

yukwon gives the flower to minhyuk and re-focuses his eyes on the night sky. then yukwon starts again.

 

_he loves me, he loves me not._

 

xii.

 

minhyuk wonders if yukwon will mourn him when he dies.

 

they still have many years to spend together, many nights to count the stars, but minhyuk can't help but think about endings. wherever he looks, he sees an ending. books have endings, movies have endings, and even the stars have their endings.

 

life, too, has an ending.

 

yukwon's life will come to an end, but minhyuk's will come much faster, and so he wonders. he wonders how he will die, and whether or not yukwon will be there. what will yukwon do? what will yukwon say?

 

minhyuk wonders if he'll get the chance to say goodbye.

 

wonders if he'll get the chance to say...

 

xiii.

 

it happens again.

 

minhyuk finds himself being pulled into bed from behind. there are hands grabbing at his waist, and yukwon's fangs are already hovering over his shoulder.

 

it's not as chilly as last time. minhyuk feels warmer, but that could be the metaphorical glow he's always heard love gives people.

 

yukwon's still cold, though. cold, but gentle.

 

he's holding minhyuk, pinning minhyuk down, pulling the collar of minhyuk's shirt open a little. and minhyuk feels yukwon's breath below his ear, feels yukwon throughout his whole body, feels the whispers against his skin.

 

_is it okay if i kiss you?_

 

minhyuk doesn't know how to answer that. he's starting to realize that he's having a lot of trouble answering yukwon's questions these days.

 

so he answers with a question of his own.

 

_why are you asking?_

 

yukwon laughs suddenly.

 

_because i want to kiss you. because i want to know if it's okay._

 

for a minute, minhyuk thinks that's kind of stupid because they've already gone a bit past kissing and it's a bit weird to start thinking about it now, but then yukwon lowers his voice and presses his mouth to minhyuk's neck.

 

_because i don't know if that's something you'll be willing to give me._

 

minhyuk pauses, shifts, turns around until he's face-to-face with yukwon.

 

_i've given you everything already._

 

there's a smile playing on yukwon's face, but it looks sad, broken. it looks like the smile of a man who's heartbroken, and minhyuk knows and hates that smile. he's seen it on his own face.

 

_you haven't._

 

and now minhyuk is just confused.

 

_what do you mean i haven't?_

 

yukwon moves closer. his fangs are still out, and his eyes lower to minhyuk's lips, but he stops a few centimeters short of minhyuk's face.

 

_you've given me your body, your blood. physical things. they don't mean anything. but kisses are different. kisses mean love. i don't have that yet._

 

love? love is what yukwon's missing? love, of all things? minhyuk wants to laugh, he really does, but he doesn't. minhyuk stops short of laughing and simply smiles. he smiles and closes his eyes and winds his arms around yukwon's neck.

 

he stays there for a moment, wrapped around yukwon, and yukwon's own hands find a place on his back. minhyuk intends to warm him, spread that glow that he feels through yukwon so that maybe he'll never have to say _i love you_.

 

xiv.

 

minhyuk starts to look at the stars by himself. he stays up at night a few times a week and watches the stars from the balcony. yukwon's in bed, and he's sleeping curled up like a cat. minhyuk thinks it's cute, wants so badly to be in bed with him.

 

but he's doing this for a good reason.

 

minhyuk knows he isn't the type to read into things, and he knows he doesn't like to buy into fantasies, and he knows he's scared of falling in love. well, he's scared of hitting the ground, actually, because he's already fallen off the cliff.

 

he's freefalling, without a parachute or rope or anything, and he can see the ground get closer and closer and he needs hope.

 

he needs something.

 

so he stays up now and does something he never thought he'd do.

 

he wishes. he counts the stars in the sky and he wishes on all of them, wishes over and over again, for the ability to stay with yukwon forever.

 

xv.

 

minhyuk knows stars can't grant wishes. deep down, he knows this. he knows that stars are just balls of fire and gas and rock being held together by space and time and gravity. he knows that stars are things of science, not magic.

 

he knows this.

 

but he wishes on them every night and tries to bury all the pessimism and cynicism he's built up over the years. he looks at yukwon's face every morning and wishes to see it again and again every night.

 

he still follows yukwon outside to look at the stars, but he doesn't fall asleep. he stays up wishing at the little twinkles of light.

 

yukwon doesn't have to carry him inside anymore. when yukwon looks back and sees that minhyuk is still awake, he doesn't look surprised. instead, he looks happy every night this happens. yukwon looks at him like that, like he's so glad minhyuk is awake, and one day minhyuk asks him what the smile on his face is for.

 

_you're blooming._

 

minhyuk doesn't understand.

 

_what do you mean?_

 

but yukwon doesn't answer. yukwon just laughs, and he looks so genuinely happy that minhyuk has to start smiling too.

 

xvi.

 

minhyuk doesn't forget it, though. what yukwon said.

 

_'you're blooming.'_

 

after a while, minhyuk gets it.

 

_'this flower won't give me the answer i want, anyway.'_

 

flowers. petals.

 

_'he loves me, he loves me not.'_

 

and he feels conflicted, like he wants to shout and cry and giggle all at the same time. he feels that weight, that ache, shift around in his chest. he's reminded that flowers, like everything else, eventually reach their end.

 

their life revolves around the sun, they live according to the light of the sun, and that's it.

 

all their petals fall off, and they dry up, and they die.

 

minhyuk thinks that, if yukwon sees him as a flower, yukwon should be the one to pull him out of the ground. yukwon should pull his petals.

 

it's only natural that the flower give yukwon an answer.

 

xvii.

 

yukwon's looking at the stars again.

 

minhyuk's nervous, fiddling with the zipper of his sweater, watching yukwon's eyes glance around the sky. his chest feels heavy, but he's ready.

 

he forces himself to be.

 

_i've bloomed._

 

yukwon looks at him, and his teeth show a little. his smile is widening as he speaks.

 

_oh, have you?_

 

minhyuk nods, and he decides that gazing up at the stars is much easier than looking into yukwon's eyes. yukwon's laughing then, and whispering.

 

_then what kind of flower have you bloomed into?_

 

minhyuk catches the light of the brightest star he can see, stares at it as he speaks.

 

_i'm a flower with an uneven amount of petals._

 

yukwon doesn't speak, so minhyuk glances back down at him. he sees yukwon tilt his head a little, confused. minhyuk can't help the smile on his face.

 

_with an uneven amount of petals, the answer will always be the same._

 

yukwon's eyes widen, and minhyuk thinks his smile is breaking his face in half, but all he cares about is yukwon. there's recognition in his expression, mixed with surprise.

 

and yukwon's lips stretch in their own, unfairly endearing, version of a smile.

 

that night, minhyuk is completely awake, but yukwon carries him inside anyway.

 

xviii.

 

yukwon kisses him.

 

it's probably the most thrilling experience in minhyuk's life, and it doesn't last long enough. minhyuk kisses back like he's thirsty, like _he's_ the vampire. he draws yukwon in because he's absolutely _starved_.

 

and then yukwon's fangs come out and _oh_ , that's right. _yukwon's_ the vampire.

 

grinning brightly, yukwon sinks his teeth in.

 

ix.

 

yukwon's warmer these days, minhyuk thinks. warmer, and more passionate. minhyuk doesn't know if that's because of the power of love or anything like that, but he does know that yukwon's smile is damn-near constantly present and he likes that.

 

minhyuk focuses on that smile, day-in and day-out, and shares as many moments with yukwon as he can. he doesn't care what events led up to these moments, he just lives in them.

 

he enjoys them, all of them. he's wasted too much time as it is.

 

and, for the first time in his life, there's no sadness, there's no worry, there's no weight.

 

xx.

 

there will be a day, a terrible day, when minhyuk dies. there will be a day when all the petals fall off the flowers, and all the stars in the sky grow dark, and all the blood drains away.

 

wishes don't work, and stars don't give you immortality, but minhyuk accepts that. he's always accepted that, but the acceptance is less bitter now.

 

minhyuk won't live forever, but he has a wonderful sun to keep him warm. and when that sun dies too, the world will be that much darker.

 

but it's good, it feels good, to give and share love. he loves yukwon. yukwon loves him. he has no regrets, he can live life to the fullest. no fears, no holding back. he can give yukwon everything, so that he doesn't carry so much.

 

minhyuk only has one wish, and he doesn't need a star to grant it for him.

 

what he wishes for most of all now is to be happy, with yukwon, for the rest of his life.

 

however long his petals last.


End file.
